


Snow Day

by ghostburr



Category: Amrev - Fandom
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-06
Updated: 2016-03-06
Packaged: 2018-05-25 02:48:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,246
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6177154
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ghostburr/pseuds/ghostburr





	Snow Day

“Well that’s a bit of interesting luck.”

“Troup and Morris were right. We should have gone home at noon when the roads weren’t so bad. It looks like it’s up to your knees out there.”

Alexander stood in front of the large window in his office, down into the dead street and underneath the dark grey sky. Snow fell to the ground, small flakes that accumulated slowly, but did not fail to make their devastating impact. He tried to make idle conversation to pass the time.

“And why ‘interesting’? Why use that word? Why is everything ‘interesting’ or ‘curious’ or ‘amusing’ to you. Those are noncommittal words.”

Aaron leaned back on his desk, several feet behind him.

“Noncommittal words?”

“Words that aren’t good or bad, negative or positive—they have no connotation. They just exist.” Alexander sipped his black coffee, still staring into the accumulating whiteness. His mind flitted from subject to subject in his nervousness.

“I can’t drive in this. I can’t walk in this.”

“Well that’s why I said it was interesting luck. We can finish up the case tonight and take tomorrow off.”

“That’s not ‘interesting’ luck, that’s good luck.”

Aaron chewed on this thought.

“’Interesting’ luck is something that doesn’t exist. Luck in and of itself is a positive thing. It is the very definition of serendipity. In fact, good luck seems to be a bit redundant.”

“What about bad luck, then?”

Alexander turned and finally looked at him, loosening his tie.

“That is something guilty people made up so they don’t feel like misfortunes are justified against them.”

Aaron nodded silently. “Oh. Of course.”

“There is no such thing as back luck, either.”

“So everyone gets what he or she deserves, in a way.”

The Nevisian didn’t answer this; he turned and looked back out the window once more, the sky darkening exponentially with each minute.

“Which is why I should have just said, ‘we are lucky to be trapped here tonight, given the fact that now we have an opportunity to finish a very pressing case without the distractions a night at home would provide.’” The black-eyed man, from his position in the dark interior of the room, filled the silence easily.

Alexander exhaled, already tired of the conversation. “Yes. You should have said it that way.”

A secret smiled passed over Aaron’s mouth as he looked down towards the floor.

“Shall we at least turn on a few lights? It’s awfully dim in here.”

“I have a headache. I’d rather not.”

Alexander sighed at this reaction.

The two New Yorkers adapted themselves to a life that attempted to be as close to their old one as possible. Hopefully, thought Alexander still looking out the window, without the same mistakes. Although with circumstances closing in on  them once again, the Nevisian was finding it more and more difficult to justify the similarities between the new life and the old one. He did not believe in mere consequence.

Aaron waited a moment and then sat down behind his desk, mind focused on other things. He looked at several phone numbers scribbled on a small sheet of paper and tossed it into the garbage dismissively —he hated speaking on the telephone—and rifled through a stack of notebooks to find what he’d been working on earlier. He removed his outer suit jacket, pulled a pen from his vest and began writing. Outside, several street lamps flickered ominously.

“Looks like we might not have a choice as far as power is concerned.” Alexander continued his weather report from the window and his associate looked up at him lazily.

“Those lights out there are going to go out. Some power line must be weighted down with ice.” The Nevisian breathed heavily, the caffeine making him anxious. He switched the coffee mug from hand to hand as he rolled up each of his shirtsleeves in turn. In a brief moment of playfulness, he steamed the window with his breath and wrote his initials. Smiling, Alexander turned to look at the other man.

“I used to love the snow. It never snowed on the island, of course. So the first winter I was in America I stayed outside for hours.”

At this, Aaron looked up and acknowledged the window art with a tiny grin,“I remember.”

Alexander breathed on the glass again, a larger spot, and drew a flower.

“You were that ginger idiot bounding around the commons area of Columbia. With Troup huffing and puffing, following you around, begging you to come back into the dorm.”

“I was not ‘bounding’” Alexander responded, “I was—“

“—Wait, wait!” Aaron sat up straight in his chair while his legal partner transformed the window-art flower into a firework. He reached into his desk and pulled out a thesaurus.  
“You were hopping. Leaping. Vaulting.”

“Vaulting?” Alexander put his mug down on a window ledge close to him, trying to hide a smile. “Do you keep that thesaurus with you all the time?”

“Only when I know I have to be in contact with you for extended periods.”

Alexander coughed, further hiding a tiny laugh.  
“My vocabulary is truly magnificent, isn’t it?” The Nevisian cocked his head to the side, in mock admiration of himself. He took his sleeve and wiped away the firework, breathed on the glass again, and started another figure.

“Positively mellifluous,” Aaron responded wryly, head bent over his notes once again.

Minutes passed between them in which the only noise was the occasion squeak of a finger against a cold window and the scratching of a ball point pen on a legal pad. Aaron sighed, eventually, and looked at his watch, squinting.

“It’s nearly eight.” Alexander downed the last of his coffee, looking at his watch. He began to pace the room nervously. “What if it snows all night? How many inches are we supposed to get?”

“They’re not measuring it in inches anymore, General. It’s feet now. About two.” Aaron spoke without looking up from his paper.

“Hungry?”

The black-eyed man exhaled and dropped his pen, perturbed.

“Not really, no.”

“Look, if we’re going to be trapped here all night working on this together the least you can do is provide decent conversation. As strange as it sounds, making frozen window designs isn’t exactly thrilling.”

“Then get out your portfolio and we can talk about that,” Aaron responded, patient but stern. Alexander shot his legal associate a look and made his way to the other desk in the room.

“You’re awfully cold tonight, Colonel. I mean more so than usual,” The Nevisian said. The Colonel raised his gaze once again and indicated towards the window.

“It’s snowing.”

Alexander rolled his eyes, taking out his own notes and spreading them neatly before him, eyeing each one. He pulled a pen from a cup on his desk and scribbled it hastily, making sure it had ink, and instantly started a new doodle. His associate frowned.

“And you seem more frivolous than usual,” Aaron remarked, watching another flower take form on the yellow legal pad. The blue-eyed general shrugged helplessly.

“I don’t see why we need to rush. You and I could have this case solved in an hour. And besides, doodling helps me think.”

Aaron picked up his pen and looked at his spidery writing. He thought for a moment and then tried his hand at a lightning bolt. Frustrated at his lack of skill he scribbled it out quickly.

“What’s that?” Alexander looked up from his own paper, nodding his head towards the sketch.

“Nothing.”

The snow accumulated quicker than ever. Outside, the deadened color scheme of black sky, white powder and orange streetlamps cast a strange glow on the already copper toned hair of Alexander, who leaned intently into his drawing. Aaron sighed mutely and watched him for a moment.

“We could play a game, if you like. If it will lighten the mood,” Alexander offered, his flower getting bigger and bigger.

“General—“

“No, listen,” Alexander flipped his paper over and began an eye with a delicately arched eyebrow, “there are plenty of things we can do to pass the time.”

“Like finish this case.”

The Nevisian placed his pen on a closed notebook to his left and gave his full attention to the dark-eyed man across the room.

“Why are you acting like this? You said earlier it was an open and shut decision. You’ve got your brief written,” he lifted an index finger and pointed to his own auburn head, “and mine’s all in here. Our notes are practically the same anyway. Please, let’s make the best of this—“

“—I’m not in the mood for games—“

“—Because you know you’ll lose,” Alexander interrupted again, this time more playfully. “I can draw us a tic tac toe board. We can play cards or something.”

Aaron tilted his head back and laughed, short and sharp.

“What are you, twelve?”

“Two-hundred and fifty-four, technically, but I seriously doubt anyone’s counting.” Alexander offered his associate a silly grin. In turn, Aaron slowly smirked. He leaned back in his chair, defeated, and clapped his hands together.

“Alright. Fine. I’ll play with you. What sort of games do you have in mind. And no tic tac toe, it’s inane.”

The Nevisian let out a tiny cry of glee, removing his lap top from its case and placing it on his desk. Within seconds he was typing away, a look of concern and concentration on his face. He pulled out a pair of glasses from his shirt pocket, blinked once, and continued reading.

“What have you found?” Aaron asked, standing up slowly and stretching. “Anything good on the internet? ‘How to pass the time during inclement weather’, et cetera?”

Alexander flushed deeply and minimized the screen. “Nothing. Not a thing.”

“Why did you close that window?”

“Pop ups,” he responded quickly.

Aaron walked closer, brows furrowed. “What’s made you all red like that?”

“Colonel Burr, I told you. It’s nothing. I didn’t find anything. Go sit back down and let me think some more—“ Before he could finish his thought, Aaron lunged for the lap top and grabbing it, ran to the opposite side of the room.

“A pop-up, you say?” The dark-eyed Colonel managed to chuckle, in between desperate grabs, from his associate, to take back his computer. “What kind of pop ups? Naughty ones?”

“Colonel Burr, I demand you return my property this instant!”

In a split second, Aaron opened the window and scanned it quickly, expression turning from mild amusement to something more sinister. “’Games to play on long winter nights’? Good Lord, General. You’ve gotten to the fun part of the internet. If I’d have known these were the games you had in mind I would have invited some of our lady friends.”

“I am serious, Colonel Burr, put my computer down before you break it!” Alexander huffed angrily, rolling up a sleeve that had fallen in the fray of moments before. He stood in front of his legal partner, red faced. Aaron merely scanned the screen and smirked.

“These are not the sorts of games you lead me to believe you’d be looking for. I was thinking…something more along the lines of…oh, I don’t know…’mother may I.”Aaron turned his back on Alexander, shielding the screen from him as he read further. “Although, even that seems to be ripe for scandalous outcomes if you ask the right questions.”

“Colonel Burr, I merely clicked on a wrong link. By accident. I didn’t mean to end up on a site like that.” Alexander stood with a single hand outstretched, waiting for his computer.

“What is ‘Too Hot’?”

“Colonel, I don’t know. Just put my computer down before you break it. Now I’m the one feeling agitated.”

“’A game where the two players kiss without stopping, and without touching each other. If one player touches the other, he or she loses. The winner gets to do whatever he or she wants to the loser.’” Aaron lifted his gaze from the screen to the other man, wide-eyed and amused. “My God. I’ll have to remember that one.”

Alexander closed his eyes and shrugged helplessly, and ran a hand through his hair. 

“You’ve got this one bookmarked, you liar,” the dark-eyed Colonel chuckled, “some accident.”

“Yes, very good, Colonel. You’ve found my bookmarked websites.” Alexander shot back, embarrassed. “Just put the computer down.”

“Are these the kinds of games you had in mind?”

Finally, the Nevisian grabbed the laptop and slunk back over to his desk, humiliated. Aaron was close behind.

“I certainly don’t mean to embarrass you.”

“Well you have. Sufficiently. It was cruel of you to mock me.”

Aaron sat lightly on the desk, facing the slumped man in the chair. “I’m sorry, General. It just struck me as funny. That that should be the website you go to so quickly.”

“What on earth is that supposed to mean?”

The Colonel shrugged. Staring at the floor he absentmindedly reached into his pocket and pulled out a small white joint. Alexander looked up and his eyes widened in shock.

“What the hell are you doing?”

“Smoking.” Aaron pulled a lighter from another pocket and flicked it on, casually lighting his smoke.

“That’s illegal, you moron.”

The Colonel puffed and closed his eyes, letting the warmth spread through his body.

“Not for us it isn’t.”

“What?”

“Technically,” Aaron began, “marijuana wasn’t illegal for us. If it were…oh, how old am I?”

He counted off on his fingers while Alexander stared on in disbelief.

“If it were, say, 1799.” He waved his hand dismissively. “Besides, we took laudanum. Opiates. What’s the difference?”

The Nevisian responded through gritted teeth. “It’s not 1799. We are in a different world, Colonel Burr. Damn your legal technicalities. Put that out.”

“Listen. If I’m to be trapped here with you all night I would at least like to be as spirited and loose as possible,” the dark-eyes closed and a laugh over took him, “especially considering the games you’d have us play.”

Alexander blushed. “I told you, that was—“

“—An accident. Of course it was.”

The general shook his head and sighed. “At least make sure nothing smells tomorrow morning, please? Flush it or something, when you’re done, so there’s no evidence?”

At this, Aaron laughed harder.

“I’ve always liked that about you. So well-behaved.”

“Colonel, please.”

“Come on. Let’s play.”

Alexander raised his eyebrows.

“Play what?”

Aaron motioned to the laptop.

“The games, the games!” He inhaled another puff of smoke. “’Mother May I’. ‘Simon Says.’ ‘Truth or Dare.’”

The general blushed deeply. Aaron noticed this and smiled broadly.

“All games where one of us is at the mercy of the other. How…interesting.” The black eyed colonel repeated his favorite adjective from earlier and Alexander scoffed.

“Not everything is sexual.”

“Who said anything about sex?”

Alexander ruminated on this for a moment. He chewed intently on a scab on his lip and the doodle of the eye on his legal pad caught his attention. Nearby, the second hand smoke from Aaron’s joint was making him slightly dizzy. He swallowed.

“Fine,” he said, holding out a hand, “Give it here.”

“What’s this?”

“Let me try it.”

Aaron coughed, turning it into a laugh at the last minute. “Oh, so now it’s ok for you to smoke. When it’s on my ticket. I paid good money for this, you know. From a friend in Virginia.”

“I don’t want to know where you got it from. Just let me try it….please.”

“Stand up.”

“Colonel just let me have one tiny puff—“

“Stand up, stand up!” Aaron repeated, ushering his associate to his feet. “Alright. Now stand in front of me. Just so.”

“What on earth are you doing? Why do I need to stand, does it help with the circulation?”

Aaron maneuvered the Nevisian into a position in front of him, inches apart.

“Now,” the Colonel began, “since you’re a novice, and have obviously never before tasted the sweet delights of nature’s most mischievous plant, we are going to do something a bit different.”

“Heaven help me, I just want to try it. Why the theatrics?”

“You’re going to stand there, patiently, while I blow smoke directly into your nose and mouth. Do you understand?”

“What?” Alexander’s eyes widened and his face split into a grin. “Are you serious?”

“It’s the only way. Now stand still.”

“This is ridiculous.”

“You said you wanted to try it. No do you want to follow the rules or not?”

For a moment, Alexander mulled the choice over in his mind. He looked into the eager black eyes in front of him and stepped closer, mouth slightly open. Aaron puffed once, reached around to grip his associate’s hair, and exhaled slowly.

The Nevisian closed his eyes, in a dream like trance, and after a moment, stepped away. He breathed in, let the feeling of elation course over his skin, and blew out the residual smoke. In a moment, a small smile crept across his lips. Aaron watched expectantly.

“Well?”

“Colonel,” the general blinked slowly, “I have to hand it to you. That was …thrilling”

“I told you.”

Alexander stumbled slightly and caught himself on the desk behind him. He looked again at his watch, and then back at his legal partner who held the tiny white joint out in front of him, offering it.

“Since you are properly indoctrinated, you may now smoke it like a professional.”

Alexander grinned, joints loosened and heart rate slowing, and reached out to take the offering. A timid puff, and then, “A terrifying prospect, to be sure. ‘A professional.’”

He passed the shrinking smoke back to Aaron, who put it to his lips to it and inhaled. “I don’t make a habit of this, you see. I merely wanted to try it once.”

The minutes dragged on at the two men finished the joint. Aaron deftly snuffed it out on the metal window pain and, when he was sure his associate wasn’t looking, tossed it carelessly into an empty waste paper bin at his side.

“Of course not. Not a habit. Of course.”Alexander muttered and moved slowly towards his chair. He landed in it with a slight grunt, causing the wheels to spin and turn him around playfully. He giggled.

“Having fun yet, General?”

“Oh yes, very much,” the Nevisian nodded.

“Any more game ideas? It’s only ten.”

Alexander switched his computer on again and was faced with the same screen as before, flirtatious games beckoning to him through his hazy, swimming thoughts.“I am horrified at the prospect of playing these games with you, to be perfectly honest, Colonel.”

“I do believe I’m just high enough to actually consider playing one of those juvenile games,” Aaron mused from the window ledge. “A rousing round of ‘Seven Minutes in Heaven’ might do us both good. Have you ever been to heaven, General? It might be nice.”

“I am a married man.”

“Never stopped you before.”

Alexander put his head down on his desk and thought about this painful truth.“You’re right. These games are for children. I’m feeling dizzy.”

“That’s natural. Truth or dare.”

The Nevisian lifted his head slowly, feeling a small bout of nausea over come him and then settle again. He eyed Aaron up and down, confused.“What did you say?”

The Colonel wiped his mouth, seemingly smearing a grin onto his face.

“I said, ‘truth or dare’? Go on, choose one. I bet you choose truth."

 


End file.
